FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP, MI — The Delta College Health Professions building is going green.

The Bay County college is spending $20 million to renovate the facility built in the late 1970s, and is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.

“We are confident we’ll achieve LEED silver certification of the renovation, but we’re still striving for the higher gold certification,” said Larry Ramseyer, Facilities Management director, in a statement. “To my knowledge there are less than a dozen LEED certified buildings in the Great Lakes Bay Region.”

The building will feature a rainwater harvesting system that will help the college save about 169,000 gallons of water per year by using filtered rainwater to flush toilets.

Delta College received a $10 million match from the state of Michigan, and college officials have raised nearly $8.6 million in private donations. Seventeen donors have contributed more than $40,000 to Delta College.

The renovations will add multi-disciplinary labs, situation rooms, state-of-the-art classroom equipment, add an elevator and update the 35-year-old building. Nearly 30 percent of Delta College's 16,000 students are enrolled in health-related programs such as nursing, dental hygiene and pharmacy technician.

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